“Reading and writing are acts of empathy and faith. Guard that trust carefully — in this rapidly changing business, it’s the only sure thing.” ~Erin Keane

"Never give up. And most importantly, be true to yourself. Write from your heart, in your own voice, and about what you believe in." ~ Louise Brown

"Write something to suit yourself and many people will like it; write something to suit everybody and scarcely anyone will care for it." ~Jesse Stuart

"A writer's job is to take one thing and make it stand for twenty." ~ Virginia Woolf

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Having Fun with Social Media

I know it's all the big deal now to get involved in social media, like it's our responsibility as authors. And I believe it is! But like any job, there are always new elements to add, to keep yourself sharp and viable, and to keep from getting bored with the work.

Master blogging, move on to Twitter. Got Twitter happening, then figure out Pinterest.

For me, the key to keeping things fun on social media is to set goals and challenges, because I'm a goal-oriented person who likes to do hard things. If something gets too easy, it can become dull. But I also like routine, so I too often fall into a rut.

Utilizing guest posters on my blog has really been fun for me and I hope for them and you, too. It has freshened the blogging experience.

Another arena I really enjoy is Twitter. If you haven't done much with Twitter, I suggest you jump in with both feet and go for it! It can be a challenge if you're new to it. It has its own culture and language and methods that seem really different and strange when you first start out. But that's part of what makes Twitter exciting.

What have you found dull on social media lately? What have you found fun and exciting?

It's kinda overwhelming sometimes. I have my writing blog, twitter account, and fb page. Then I also have a lifestyle, crafting, whatever I want to talk about blog, fb fan page, twitter account, pinterest, and instagram with that blog. It's craziness!

But, it's so much fun! And it's all about balance. I get on each thing for only a few minutes a day (or every few days).

I feel the whole social media thing feels a bit 'tired' at the moment.

Twitter seems to be all about people selling things at the moment (or maybe that's just how it is when I'm logged on.) FB - there's a limit to how interested I am in what people have for breakfast. And Pinterest is one social media site too many for me.

All forms of Social Media come - are conquered and mostly set aside, except for the chosen few that actualy hold my interest. The problem is that I have this very busy life outside "Social Media" and down to earth stuff is just way more interesting, once you have conquered the challenges. I love the challenges of something NEW, however once the challenge is gone and I have mastered it, "Boring" sets in - I agree with Jo above in her statement "there's a limit to how interested I am in what people have for breakfast".Cheers and have a great day.

Dear Karen, I'm what I call "technologically challenged" and so felt quite proud of myself when I was able to start a blog and learn the intricacies of template, design, etc. That was a year ago. Since then the only thing I've added to my repertoire is buying a scanner and learning how to scan, crop, insert onto blog.

This weekend I gave myself a challenge: to figure out how to get the photographs from the digital camera to the computer. If I can accomplish that today, I'd do a victory march around the house!

Dear Karen, I wasn't able to figure out the digital camera to computer process. One of my nieces is going to come over and help me when time permits. Now I need to think about investigating Facebook! Peace.

I haven't gotten into Twitter and I'm still not sure if I ever will but I think I might at some point, because there's no choice really. Everyone's on it. Sometimes it seems to me that it's all a bit much.

Well, I haven't jumped into the Twitter thing yet, but I hope to soon. I have an account and lots of followers, but I mainly use it to announce blogger friends' contests.

As for dull, I must admit I am getting a bit bored with author's hocking their books, cover reveals that are not creative in their introductions, and book reviews... so many book reviews.

When I first started blogging a few years ago, posts were fun, exciting, ,,, lots of blogfests where we needed to WRITE something fun to enter. Plus all the writing suggestions and topics. Helpful hints to strengthen our writing, etc. Of course many bloggers still do these ... thankfully. WE can all learn from them. As writers we all need to keep current and fresh. We must continue to grow, if not, we'll become stagnant, and dull...

For fun .... Now there are amazing things too! Tons of contents to snag the discerning eye of an agent. Blogfests that we can really sink our teeth into our writing. I had recently joined the Romantic Friday Writers and found that I can expand my writing skills into different venues. My most recent discovery ... Film noir. What fun. Something to use my descriptive writing style. I am actually going to use the few excerpts I have already written and turn them into a Novella.

It's through these blogfests I have discovered new and exciting ways to write. These challenges push us into areas where we might not have even considered.

Michael, It's a given that with writers following writer blogs the subject can get old. I'm a little tired of the things you mentioned as well. I seek out blogs and comment on posts that make me think and supply information I find valuable.

I like the interaction on blogger better than Twitter. It feels more conversational to me. And I love when people write things (either on their blog or as comments on mine) that make me think. Twitter is fun, but also a little transient. It all moves along like water flowing downstream,and you just sort of watch it go by.

I love the social aspect of, well just about anything. My problem is trying to do too many things.

Even though we often hear/feel that we have to do all these social networking things in order to be a successful author, it's important to remember to enjoy it too. Maybe just one or two things will be enough if that's where you choose to really be involved.

I enjoy blogging, Twitter and Facebook along with my own personal website. I have great success with blogging, I think. Twitter, I possibly have finally figured it out and it's becoming easier. Facebook... well, that started off as a personal thing which morphed into a writing thing and I utilize it the best I can. I have yet to go over to Pintrest or Instagram... not ready for those just yet. Goodreads is a little difficult for me to maneuver at the moment as well. It is still all great fun, though!

I don't like Facebook, which leads me to believe that I will not like Twitter. I'm a loner and I have also seen in some of our nephews and nieces how all-absorbing and addictive social networking can become. I'd rather go sit in my field and listen to the birds. Who knows how I would feel about all this if I were young. But I'm not and since I'm not a writer, I don't have to work it. As you know, I love blogging, because it gives me a chance to be creative with photos and words. And I enjoy the friends I have made.

Inger, If it weren't part of the job description to market and promote our books, I bet most writers would much prefer to go sit in the field and listen to the birds doing their real-life tweets. I know I would!

As a non-Twitter user, that site baffles me . . . the only recent foray I've had into social networking was earlier today when I inadvertently set up a Google+ account by changing my YouTube username. Thankfully, the delete button was easy to find under the Setting wrench. :P

Social media could totally suck up all our time, couldn't it? I feel like people should TRY a bunch, but then pick a couple that really work with their personality. I am a blogger and facebooker as those work a lot better with my pacing. Twitter just moves too fast and I feel like it requires blocks of time, rather than FB where I can pop in, join a convo, then check back 3 hours later and participate a little more in the same convo.

I'm on Twitter but have never really figured out how to use it more and enjoy it. Your post inspires me to try again with that. So far the only social media I feel totally comfortable with is blogger, but I know I need to be active on more.

I just can't succumb to twitter. It seems so self-absorbed...more so than the rest of social media. Being connected to the masses every second is not appealing to me. Part of what I like about writing is the solitude. I do enjoy Pinterest, and I'm on facebook. That seems like enough to me!

Please stay and make yourself at home. I made cookies.

This Blog Powered by Diet Coke and Chocolate

Yay Twitter!

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